Chicago Bulls: Offense must revolve around Lauri Markkanen

For Lauri Markkanen to reach his star potential, the Chicago Bulls must make him their top scoring option moving forward.

In many ways, Chicago Bulls’ power forward Lauri Markkanen is having a terrific rookie season to date.

Heading into Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the 7-footer is averaging 15.3 points-per-game, 7.7 rebounds, and an impressive .363 shooting percentage from deep.

The Bulls’ organization should be excited about Markkanen’s future because his natural talents on the court suggest he’ll become an All-Star in the near future if he receives proper coaching.

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So far, Bulls’ head coach Fred Hoiberg has done a nice job implementing Markkanen into the team’s offense. His creative play-calling allows Markkanen to receive plenty of catch-and-shoot opportunities from 3-point range, one of the rookie’s strengths. That ability also makes Markkanen a go-to target when buckets are needed.

However, part of what makes the young power forward special is also what can undermine his play.

Roughly half of Markkanen’s 12.9 shots-per-game are 3-pointers — 6.4 of them, to be exact.

Moving forward, Markkanen must implement a more aggressive post-up game. A player with his size and athleticism should be looking to score inside the paint more often, attacking the rim aggressively while getting to the foul line more frequently.

Markkanen’s post-up game is still a work in progress. He has a nice hook shot but has a limited arsenal of moves to work with. That has to change for him to take the next step as a player.

The only way to get better at something is by doing it repeatedly. Markkanen must demand the ball in the paint more often. Doing so will allow him to become a more potent offensive threat, giving defenders more to think about while guarding him.

That’s easier said than done, though. Hoiberg must also play a more prominent role in allowing his rookie more touches inside the paint.

That means stressing to his players the importance of feeding the ball to Markkanen more often. Let the offense flow through him rather than Nikola Mirotic, Zach LaVine or even Kris Dunn, when he’s healthy.

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All those players are capable of scoring the ball. But taking away shot opportunities from Markkanen in the process does a disservice towards his immediate development as a franchise cornerstone.

Markkanen has more upside than anyone else on the Bulls’ roster. His development should be the organization’s top priority moving forward outside of getting a high lottery draft pick.